kids often get bored on long car rides. When they’re not busy, they start whining, complaining and arguing with each other. This is especially annoying for the one who sits at the wheel. games provide distraction and fun during the drive.
1. city-country-river
The classic among the knowledge and quiz games was already used by great-great-grandparents in the late 19th century. Century played. Necessary utensils for each participant are a blank sheet of DIN A4 paper and a pen. the game covers the three areas: city, country, river, but can be extended to many more categories such as z.B. Name, occupation, plant, animal, instrument, piece of clothing, celebrity, movie or song title, etc. Before the game, the terms are divided into tables as in the example diagram:
When the table is ready, the game can start. This is done by determining the letter with which all the terms in the table begin. One of the players mentally recites the alphabet, and when someone else shouts "stop," everyone starts writing. If the stop z.B. At the letter G, all searched terms must now begin with this letter. Whoever finishes first shouts "done". Now everyone stops writing. Alternatively, you can set a time limit of five minutes in advance and use your smartphone as a stopwatch. If the words are repeated several times during the reading out and comparison, five points are awarded; if only one word is mentioned, ten points are awarded. Example: if more than one person names greece for the letter G, you get five points. If only one person names ghana or georgia, you get ten points. If a player is the only one in a category who knows the correct answer, he receives five bonus points. The game can be played until the alphabet has been completed. The winner is the person with the most points at the end of the game.
Tip: the tables for the game can be made on the computer before the trip and copied several times. Here you can download our template to play for free.
2. Continue telling the story
For this very entertaining game, several sheets of paper are cut into ca. 50 credit card-sized cards are cut, alternatively small index cards are also possible. Now write a word or term on each card like z.B. buy, take an exam, travel the world, moon, mafia, win the lottery, chase criminals, bike, speedboat, have a quirk, new york, bank robbery or whatever comes to mind. The game starts with a sentence that a parent thinks up. my favorite phrase has always been: "in the canadian wilderness, there once lived a little bear, and one day . " child 1 draws the first card and continues the story with the word written on the little card. If it says "lottery win", for example, the story could go on like this: " . And one day the little bear won the lottery". Child 2 draws the next card and continues. In this way the funniest and most unbelievable stories come about. each card is used only once.
3. guessing melodies or movies/series
A parent or one of the children begins humming a familiar tune (z.B. The soundtrack of a movie, the theme music of a television series, a pop song, hit song, rap, nursery rhyme etc.). The others have to play the melody or. Guess the movie or series title. Whoever guesses it first gets a point and is next in line. Whoever has collected the most points at the end of the game will receive a small reward at the next gas station.
4. Fortune telling
Before leaving, each child is given a sheet of paper divided into two columns with several words written on them, such as:
5. Place sign game
on the journey to the vacation one drives past all kinds of places, in the direction of denmark for example in flensburg. In this game, the aim is to collect more place names that begin with "F", such as freiburg, frankfurt, fulda, but you can also name cities abroad, such as florenz or ferrara. Each of the children names a place until no one can think of anything else. When the next town sign appears, the game continues.
But they don’t necessarily have to be place name signs, they can also be signs on the highway that indicate how far it is to X, Y or Z. In this case there are several place names to choose from. The kids write down the cities and towns that come to mind for the corresponding letter. Whoever has the highest number of towns on his list gets a big ice cream at the next gas station, the loser gets a small one.
Tip: take notes or small writing pads for this and the next game.
6. find words on license plates
In this game, kids have to find license plates that make up words, such as LA-NG, KA-TZ, DU-MM or KI-NO, and write them down. the winner is the one who has found the most.
Alternatively, you can also form funny sentences from the individual letters, like KA-TZ: Katharina and the Affe tanzen Zumba. YOU-MM: you and I mess up. the more nonsensical, the funnier.
7. Around-the-holiday-question-answer-game
One of the children starts and recites the alphabet until someone shouts "stop". All the answers to the questions that will be asked, such as "where are you going", must begin with the letter that is called "stop"?"if the letter is "N", the answer could be "north sea" or "norderney". It doesn’t have to be the family’s actual vacation spot. To the next question, "what are you doing there?" one answer would be z.B. "play netball", nordic walking" or "nothing". "what’s in your suitcase?"possible answers: "new clothes", "nothing to wear", "the dog’s bowl", etc. If the child does not know the answer, it is the turn of the rest of the family. Once the questions have been answered, a new letter is chosen.
8. Word by word
This is a game that has been played for a long time in cars and trains. It’s fun for kids and adults alike. A parent starts and says a two-syllable word like "train"yard". One of the kids has to find a new word with the second syllable of the word. This could be "yardbe a castle. Then castlefollow path and then awaytrain, thereupon traincompartment and compartmentplace etc. The game continues until the kids can’t think of any more words. Then play from the beginning with a new word (z.B. highway → railroad track → railroad bed → sofa bed → sofa cushion, etc.).
9. Who am I?
This classic game is a lot of fun. One of the children, father or mother thinks of a famous person and the others have to find out who it is by asking 10-15 questions. Sample questions: "is it a woman??", "she sings?", "is he actor", etc. The questions can only be answered with "yes" or "no". Everyone gets to ask questions until a "no" follows. Only then is it the next player’s turn to ask his questions. The player who finds out who the person is gets a point and is allowed to think up a new celebrity, which the others have to guess.
Alternatively, you can also take someone from your relatives. Question examples: "is he related to mom or dad?", "she often comes to visit?" "is he old?" etc. The winner is the person who has guessed the most people at the end of the game.
10. Fortunately, unfortunately .
This game is guaranteed not to be boring. One in the car begins with a sentence that starts with "fortunately" or "zum gluck". The next person continues the sentence with "unfortunately" or "unluckily". In both parts of the sentence, the statements should be about the topic of vacation, but not necessarily about one’s own travel destination. The story must be continued, even if it sounds nonsensical. For example, someone starts with the sentence: "luckily I’m on my way to italy". " the next continues with. But unfortunately I left my suitcase at home". the story could be continued like this: "luckily my swimsuit from the last visit to the swimming pool was still in the trunk", "unfortunately it is forbidden to enter restaurants in bathing suits". "fortunately there are beach restaurants in italy" ". But unfortunately not where I booked". "luckily, there’s a kitchenette in my hotel room. " etc. The more nonsensical the story continues, the more laughter there is in the car and the time flies by rapidly.
Do you know of any other games that are good for those long car rides?